


Twenty-Three Percent

by akiirameta



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Cheesy, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Noraebang, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 00:04:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akiirameta/pseuds/akiirameta
Summary: Noraebang nights: a treasured Xiuhan tradition.





	Twenty-Three Percent

When they met in sophomore year of college, it didn’t take long for Minseok and Luhan to bond over their mutual love for soccer, good food and an idol group known as TVXQ. In just a few weeks, they went from occasionally playing soccer together to getting lunch almost every day.   
  
They’re older now, it’s only a couple of weeks until graduation, but they are closer than ever. Exams are about to start, and they each have what feels like a million assignments to do, but they are choosing to ignore those facts for tonight. After ruling out going to see a movie (boring), playing soccer (tempting, yet too exhausting) or staying in (the textbooks make them feel guilty), they decide on going to the small noraebang place that their friend Baekhyun had kept talking about.

When they arrive, they are greeted by a middle-aged man, presumably the owner, who tells them about the hourly price (cheaper than anticipated) and takes them to one of the secluded rooms. It has a nice, albeit dated, interior, and the TV is already running. Minseok decides to sit down on the plush couch while Luhan picks up the tablet used to choose a song. They go with one of the most popular songs first, and maybe it’s the reverb on the microphone, or the backing track, but they sound a whole lot better than anticipated.

Minseok always knew that Luhan has a nice voice, it had been one of the things that made him initially fall for the younger, even though he had just been softly singing along to a song stuck in his head back then. That was over a year ago, and Minseok had only kept finding more things to like about the Chinese boy. He didn’t tell him though, too afraid that their friendship would break due to a one-sided crush.

What he didn’t know, however, is that his crush wasn’t one-sided at all. Somewhere along soccer practices, sleepovers and shared lunches, Luhan had started to feel his heart beat a little faster every time he saw the elder, and getting sad whenever their studied prevented them from spending time together.

In some ways, they had both been obvious about their liking for each other. From them cuddling close when they watched stupid videos on the internet, to always making time for the other and annoying their friends by always talking about each other. But neither of them had ever found the courage to actually confess.

A few empty soju bottles have now found their home on the small table in front of the couch, and the two boys are starting to care less about sounding good and more about just having fun. Once Luhan had searched for TVXQ in the system, all that has been playing had been songs of theirs. For the most part, they aren’t even looking at the lyrics, having memorized them during moments of boredom during high school.

The next song starts playing, at Minseok jumps a little upon recognizing his favorite song, grabbing the mic a little firmer. The passion he puts into singing along is almost laughable, but Luhan just finds it cute. During the second verse, Minseok's voice cracks during a high note and his face starts getting red from embarrassment, so he puts his hands in front of it. Luhan just laughs, and after hesitating a little, takes the elder’s hands in his, dragging them away from his face, He looks down at their intertwined hands, and can’t help but hold his breath for a second. He suddenly realized that they are in fact holding hands, and he finds himself enjoying the feeling of the elder’s smaller hands in his. His eyes start drifting from their hands to Minseok’s face, but the smaller seems to be lost in thought. He gathers all his courage and starts to lean in, waiting for Minseok to show any reaction. The smaller looks him in the eyes, but starts closing his eyes just a few seconds later. Finally, their lips find each other, softly pressing against each other, still cautious and afraid that they might have read the situation wrong. When they separate, their hands are still linked, and both of them start breaking into small smiles. Words seem unnecessary right now, both of them are content with the warm feeling that starts to spread in their chest. The song in the background is barely registered by them, and they get a score of 23% because they completely forget to sing the rest of it.

The transition from being friends to being boyfriends comes quite easily for them. They already spent so much time together anyways, but now they get even more excited about seeing each other. Their upcoming graduation is something they worry about, but at this point, they are pretty sure they can make basically anything work.

They both have small apartments now, since the dorms are no longer an option, and are taking turns with staying over. Just moving in together would probably be easier (and cheaper), but both of them are too scared to even suggest that idea. After a few months, they decide to go back to the small noraebang place, and decide to make going back there a monthly tradition, always on the day of their anniversary.  
The middle-aged man that runs the place is giving them discounts now, and greets them with a big smile every month. They make some small talk with him, asking about his wife and how business has been. When they go into the booth, the same one that is always left empty for them, even without calling beforehand, they share a soft kiss before Minseok picks up the tablet. They’ve gone through all of TVXQ’s discography a long time ago, and after that started showing each other the songs of their childhood. Minseok had absolutely butched the Mandarin, but Luhan didn’t mind.

Today, it’s their fifth anniversary, and they’re still dressed in their fancy clothes from going to the fancy Italian restaurant Kyungsoo, a mutual friend from college, had recommended before. Luhan shrugs off his suit jacket and throws it on the couch before sitting down.  
They take turns choosing songs, and they are getting progressively sappier. They start giving each other long stares, but can’t keep a serious face while trying to sing in the original female key of the song. 

When it's Luhan's turn to choose a song again, he makes Minseok close his eyes, both snickering the whole time, most likely because of the red wine they had with dinner. The first notes of the song start playing, and at first, Minseok just starts humming along, but when he recognizes the song, he opens his eyes in confusion. He’s even more confused at first, because he doesn’t immediately see the younger in front of him, but finds him on one knee in front of him. In the background, the same song from the first time their first noraebang night plays, the one that made his voice crack and the two finally realize that their feelings are actually reciprocated.

Once he finds his voice again, instead of giving a normal proposal speech, Luhan says "We might've gotten only 23% on this song back then, but I'm 100% sure that you are the one for me."  
Minseok can’t help but snort a little at that, but immediately goes quiet again when he sees the ring that the younger had taken out of his suit jacket, awkwardly bending over to the couch.

They don’t get married right away, taking their time with even starting to begin planning the wedding, but they finally do, it’s a small ceremony, with their families (or at least the part of them that can get over the fact that their relative is marrying a guy), their college friends and some people from their childhood.

At the reception, Baekhyun insists on taking all of the credit for introducing them to the noraebang place all those years ago. Minseok and Luhan don’t even bother to try shutting him up, they’re too happy today.

**Author's Note:**

> I initially wrote some of this plot in [London9Calling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/London9Calling/)'s CuriousCat, and decided to make it into a full one-shot.  
> I'm sorry for the weird pacing in this, but I hope you enjoyed reading this anyways! ♥


End file.
